Issue 11
SPRING 2011
Prescriptions for Excellence in
H E A LT H C A R E
A collaboration between Jefferson School of Population Health and Lilly USA, LLC
Editor-in-Chief: aD vid B. Nash, MD, MBA
• Managing Editor: Janice L. Clarke, RN, BBA • Editorial Staff: eD borah C. Meiris, Alexis Skoufalos, EdD
A Message from Lilly
Creating Better Connections
By Alex M. Azar, II
Many of us pride ourselves on doing
more with less and being able to
multitask ad infinitum. In reality,
it’s difficult to produce quality while
chasing after too many “priorities.” At
Lilly Managed Healthcare Services,
we respect our customers’ role in the
health care system and strive to build
stronger relationships by centering on
patients and meeting the health care
needs that will improve the health
care system overall.
With increased pressure to produce
quality health care under the current
health reform, we expect to intensify
our push for new and innovative
solutions. While we recognize that
the problems are not solely ours, Lilly
is committed to shifting its emphasis
to the needs of a connected health
care system. We want to be part of a
new paradigm in health care, raising
the bar on great leadership, engaging
and motivating our own employees,
and focusing relentlessly on our
patients and our customers who serve
our patients. Our road map will
be guided by our vision: Improved
Outcomes for Patients.
Improving patient outcomes is one of
the goals of health reform. There is
no one clear path to achieving these
outcomes; however, the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services
and private payers have been piloting
programs that are transitioning to
pay-for-performance programs. The
patient must be at the center of these
programs, ie, consideration must be
given to the episode of care as the
patient will experience it. Within
each episode of care are transition
points from one site of care to the
next (eg, to hospital from home, from
hospital to skilled nursing care). One
way to improve transitions within our
health care system is to create better
connections between the points of
care by assuring the delivery of highquality customer/patient service at
every step of the process.
If you think about the difference
between a 3-star hotel and a 5-star
hotel, it is not the basics such as
having a bed, clean sheets, and
a coffee pot in the room. The
difference is the level of service you
receive, and it is the little things
that set superior organizations apart.
Employees of 5-star hotels anticipate
your needs. They greet you by name
at check-in and, upon your return
visit, remember what kind of soda
you prefer. If each person involved
in the continuum of care for a
patient were to think about providing
excellent customer service - similar
to that of a 5-star hotel - imagine
how we could improve the patient
experience and the transitions across
the continuum of care.
A 5-star care continuum would
require mapping out the patient flow
and transition processes, identifying
the major destinations for the patient,
and designing critical interventions
to create better connections at each
transition point to prevent gaps in
care and to enable a more positive
patient “experience” in what is an
unpleasant and vulnerable time for
any individual. Delivering positive
health outcomes and superior
patient experiences is not only the
right thing to do; it will lead to
more engaged and self-actualized
employees who are connected more
directly to the mission that originally
drew them to health care.
Let us all strive to move the bar
higher. We at Lilly are focused
on creating better connections
in health care that will expand
our thinking and push us to act
(continued on page 2)
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Prescriptions for Excellence in Health Care
in new and positive ways for the
benefit of our patients. We are
constantly looking at how we will
connect the right patients to the
right medicines and drive better
patient outcomes. Our approach
will be simple and time tested: to
improve and exceed expectations
at multiple steps through service
to the multiple stakeholders in the
system. Most important is stepping
up to the challenge of improving
experiences and connecting the dots
for our patients so that quality is an
experience they will know and expect.
Alex M. Azar, II, is Vice President
Managed Healthcare Services and
Puerto Rico, Lilly USA, LLC.
This newsletter was jointly developed and subject to editorial review by Jefferson School of Population Health and Lilly USA, LLC, and is supported through funding by Lilly USA, LLC.